


Children of Blood

by eclecticimaginarian



Series: Children of Blood [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural, Demonstuck, Gen, Mentions of Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-30
Updated: 2013-07-30
Packaged: 2017-12-21 20:18:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/904466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eclecticimaginarian/pseuds/eclecticimaginarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Which a Demon Girl Finds Herself Captured, Escapes and Finds a Mystery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Children of Blood

Roxy ==> Be annoyed

                Hells yeah you're annoyed! Can't a demon girl get a drink in this city without hunters chasing after her? Actual drinks even! No humans harmed in the making of this Roxy's night out! That is neither here nor there however, as your night out seem to have ended with you waking up cuffed to a pole with Jake English threatening you. English! Of all hunters it's this one that gets the drop on you?

 

                English paces in front of you, seriously would it kill the guy to at least explain why he interrupted what was shaping up to be a rather enjoyable night. Back and forth, back and forth. Eventually he stops and turns to look at you.

 

                "Who did it?"

 

                "Gonna have to be a lot more specific English. What are we talking about here, the sudden lack of booze in every bar in the city? Stolen computer parts? Sick beats echoing across rooftops? Tentacle monsters appearing -- "

 

                A sudden gunshot cuts you off, a bullet embedding itself into the pole just above your head. "Don't play dumb! There's no other pack in the city who would've had any reason to go after her!" You blink and arch an eyebrow in confusion. "There's a lot of hunter ladies in this city English, you are gonna have to be a bit more specific." Really, there's only a few people he could be talking about. The gossip Dirk and Rose have turned up says that English's group isn't on the best of terms with the other hunters in the city. That's why you've been picking fights with them in the first place, leaving the better connected hunters to larger packs who hadn’t just had to transplant themselves halfway across the country just to avoid getting killed.

 

                English's face twists in rage and he starts toward you, only to stutter to a halt at the sound of an opening door. Footsteps, then someone  rounds the corner. It’s the other male hunter, Egbert, the one who chased Dave half a mile the first time they met. All that bravado's gone now as he shuffles into the room.

 

                "Jake, she's awake." English sighs and turns away from you, walking over to Egbert.

 

                "Thank you my good man." He clasps him on the shoulder. "I'll go talk to her. Jade still up there." A nod. "You stay here then, watch our prisoner. I figure you don't want to be around when…" He trails off and Egbert shakes his head.

 

                "No, I'll stay down here. Just-- just tell me when it's all over. I don't want to see." English gives a grim smile and vanishes around the corner. Egbert walks fully into the room and stares at you.

 

                "So was it you?"

 

                You can't help yourself, you laugh.

 

                "Are we really doing this? Second verse, same as the first? Like I told English, I have abso-fucking-loutely no idea what you're talking about." You jerk your wrists but the cuffs still hold. You don't think you're getting out of this one on your own. "You gonna give me any deets or are we just playing twenty questions Russian roulette here?"

 

                Egbert blinked, "Really? You don't know? Jake said--"  He's cut off as he pitches forward, landing unconscious on the ground.

 

                You laugh, "About time you got here Di-Stri. Thought I was a goner for a bit."

 

                Dirk steps out of the shadows. "Sorry Ro-Lal. I had to wait for someone to open the door for me. Never expected these idiots to have a properly warded door. Even then, if I could get across it can't have been done to well." He circles behind the pole and inspects the cuffs. "Not even cold iron, either these guys are spectacularly stupid or something's got them rattled good." There's a scraping sound and you feel the cuffs pop open. "What were they trying to get out of you anyway?"

 

                You pull yourself to your feet and rub your wrists. "I don't know anything more than you do. They seem to think we should though."  Dirk comes around the pole and grabs you in a hug and you realize that for however brief a time, he had feared you were dead. You press your head into his neck and inhale the scents of _reliefpacksafetyhome_ before pulling away.

 

                "Ready abscond Lalonde?" Dirk asks with a smirk, only to frown when you shake your head.

 

                "Not yet, if something is going on I wanna know about it. They're pretty convinced we did whatever it is that has them flipping out." You grin and tilt your head to the side. "Besides, aren’t you at least curious?"

 

                Dirk snorts and waves you toward the hall.

 

                "Lead on then."

***

 

Jane==> Wake Up

                Must you? You really don't feel like waking up right now. Everything hurts. Even your toes feel like someone just set you on fire.  Then struck you with lightning. Then set you on fire again. Point is, you really don't feel like getting out of bed right now. Or ever.

 

 

                Despite your best efforts your mind continues its journey toward wakefulness, your body protesting at every step. Between the pain and the fog in your head, it takes you a while to remember that you don't actually remember ever  going to bed in the first place. Or coming home from the store. Groaning with effort you force your eyes open, wincing against the bright light.

               

                "Jane? Are you awake?" Groggily you peer toward the source of the noise.

 

                "John?" Your vision's fuzzy. Where are your glasses? "Wha-- what happened." There's a blue blur and your vision sharpens as John places your glasses on your face then steps back. You crane your neck to look at your surroundings. You're in your bedroom, John standing in the middle of the room, Jade leaning against the closed door. Going by the window, it was late at night. Last you remembered, it was midmorning and you were heading to the grocery store. "How long have I been asleep."

               

                "A couple of days." John says. "I'll go get Jake. He'll explain." John hurries out of the room as Jade walks over to sit on your bed.

 

                "How are you feeling?"

 

                "Like I just got hit by a truck." You try to sit up only to be stopped short. Frantically, you pull at your arms but you can't lift them more than a few inches. Jade tries to push you back down.

 

                "Jane! Calm down." But you can't calm down because when you look you can see _chains_ keeping your arms secured to the bed. "Jane!" Jade's trying to push you down but you twist away as far as the chains will allow.

               

                "Jade. Why am I tied down?" Jade bites her lip and looks away. " Jade! Answer me!" The chains bite into your skin and you smell blood. "What's going on?" Jade bites her lip and looks away.

 

                "Just-- just calm down ok? Jake will explain. I promise!" You suck in a breath and hold still as the door opens and Jake slips into the room. As he enters, Jade quietly stands and walks out of the room, bowing her head  so her hair blocks your view of her eyes and squeezing Jake's hand as she passes him. Jake squeezes back before dropping her hand and moving to stand by your bed. He sits and looks mournful.

 

                "Do you remember what happened?"

 

                You sigh and try to think back. "Not really, last I can recall I was going to the grocery store" Jake hadn't wanted you to go. It was too dangerous he said. Not alone, wait for someone else to go with you. But there hadn't been anyone else. Jade and Jake had been out trying to find information on the new demons that had arrived in the city out of nowhere and John had been busy cleaning his hammers. Besides, it was broad daylight and it was a short walk. You shake your head. "I don't remember anything more."

 

                Jake sighs and looks down. "Blast. I was hoping you'd remember who did this to you so we'd have more than guesswork to go on. Our friend downstairs has been less than forthcoming." He stops and breaths in as if preparing himself to continue.

 

                "Jade and I--. We were coming back from speaking to those hunters on the east side of the city, Vantas and his ilk. We'd not had much luck, apparently these new demons haven't made much of a name for themselves. When we came back, John met us at the door. Told us that you were gone and he hadn't heard from you for hours. So we went out looking. Didn't find a thing until we came home." He stops. "Dammit Jane--. Why'd you leave alone in the first place?!"

 

                You don't answer, waiting for him to continue, after a few moments, he does. "We found you on the doorstep. Alone. Unconscious, hands tied behind your back. There was a note." He pulls a battered piece of paper from his pocket and shows it to you. It doesn't say anything, just a strange smiley face, :o) written in purple ink. "And there was something else." He stops again, sighs, and continues.

 

                "You had been bitten.  And there was dried blood around your mouth"

 

                Everything suddenly seems to stop. You know the stories. You know what bite marks and dried blood means. There's only one possible thing that could have happened. Something you don't even want to think about." You sink into the bed in shock.

 

                Jake looks at you, his eyes are red and when he speaks, his voice is chocked with tears. "Jane... You're one of my best friends." He reached down and puts something on his lap. With horror you realize it's a gun, the one he keeps in his leg holster.

 

                "I don't want to see you become a monster."

***

 

Roxy ==> Be sneaky

                You are _so_ sneaky. The sneakiest. If sneaky was a contest, you'd win the grand prize. Bit of a waste though. Besides Egbert, you and Dirk haven't ran into any of the other hunters. It's not even like it's a large building, , just the basement, the ground floor and whatever's at the top of the stairs you find yourself standing under.

 

                Dirk's still poking around. Neither of you have found anything that might clue you in on what happened to put English into a freakout. Well, that's not quite true. There's weapons missing from the rack in the living room and a tipped over bag spilling rope and chains over the floor. but for all you know they might just not be very neat.

 

                "Roxy. Look at this." Dirk walks over to you. You look at what he's holding, a battered notebook held open somewhere in the middle.

_"James was bitten today. A raid went wrong and the demon had him before any of us could see. He hasn't awoken since. I've never seen anyone I know turned before, all we have on the subject is James's description of his wife's final days. Nothing to indicate that there is hope for him, but we will try."_

 

                You flip a few pages ahead.

_"James woke up again. The venom seems to have left him slipping in and out of consciousness. We have asked Maryam and her group for help but they have no new information. Situations like ours seem to be rare among hunters. Or if not, no one has spoken of it. We have brought James's children to stay with us. It is dangerous for them to be alone."_

 

                You flip ahead again.

 

_"Our efforts have been in vain. James continues to cry for human blood, our attempts to create a viable substitute have failed. Earlier today he tried to attack his own son. This was a mistake. I should have put him out of his misery when he first was bitten. I will fix this tonight. Elizabeth has taken the children out for the evening, at least they will not have to hear."_

 

You close the book and look at the cover. Written there in the same handwriting as the inside is: 

 

**_"The Journal of Hassel Harley: Demon Hunter"._ **

****

                "Found this on the table. Every other book's on the shelves." Dirk says. "If English was reading this we might have the reason they're all on freakout mode. Someone got turned and they're flipping out trying to deal with it."

 

                It makes sense, sort of. No better way to screw with a hunter's head than to turn them or someone they love. But seriously, ditching the newborn demon right after was a dick move. You turn toward the stairs again. "Well, only one way to find out." Grinning at Dirk you tilt your head toward the top of the stairs and add "After you."

 

                Dirk heads up the stairs, you at his heels. Halfway up he pauses and gestures for you to do the same. From where you're standing you can hear panicked shouts from upstairs, still to indistinct to make out the words. "Looks like we might have been right." Dirk comments wryly, tilting his head toward the noise. "Care to investigate further or we getting out of here?" He's tense, every fiber poised to bolt if something goes wrong. You don't blame it at all, the whole building is saturated in the scents of the hunters and now that you're looking for it, the thin scent of a newborn demon winding its way though the other scents.

 

                A sudden gasp makes you look up. Standing at the top of the stairs is one of the other hunters, Harley you think. She darts to the side and grabs a rifle calling, "Jake, Trouble!"

 

                Dirk turns and jumps down the stairs, clearly expecting you to follow.  Instead you dodge Harley, and continue up the stairs. English blocks your path as he charges out of a room at the end of the hall.

 

                "You monster. What did you do to John?" You don't respond, grabbing his arm and flinging him behind you. He splutters as he hits the floor before pushing himself up and running after Harley and Dirk.

 

                Now you can clearly make out the shouts from inside the room. "Jake?! Jade?! John?! Somebody help me! Anyone!" Cautiously, you walk down the rest of the hall and push the door all the way open.

 

                Inside, chained to the bed is the panicking, struggling figure of Jane Crocker, claws out and fangs bared in panic.

***

 

Jane ==> Panic

                Way ahead of you. The chains dig into your wrists as you pull and pull in a vain attempt to break free but you're long past feeling the pain.

_…you stare at your father, chained to the wall and growling, Mr. Hassel's faltering explanations fading into the background..._

_…you grab John and pull him back, inches between him and your father's fangs, the bottle of rat blood clattering to the floor..._

_…coming back to silence when the house has been filled with rattling chains and screams for weeks, "There wasn't anything else to be done..."_

 

                In your panic, you only just hear the door creek open and someone walk into the room, only noticing when you hear a gasp of surprise. Your eyes fly to the source and to your surprise, it's not any of your housemates. The woman standing the doorway is familiar but for the life (unlife now?) of you, you can't remember where you've seen her before.

 

                She slowly moves into the room, never taking her eyes off of you. When she's close enough to see the fangs in her still open mouth you remember where you've seen her and scramble back as far as the chains allow. You may stick mostly to support roles and research, but you do end up in fights often enough to know a demon when you see one and Jake's talked of nothing but the pack that suddenly arrived in town for weeks.

 

                A hand on your arm brings your panic back in full force. "Nononono STAY AWAY!" The hand pulls back before wrapping carefully around your flailing wrist and pulling it down on the bed.

 

                "Hey shoosh. Calm down... Hey!" You yank your hand out of her grip and curl into a corner, shaking. "Hey now... I'm not gonna hurt ya..." The demon sits on the bed and slowly reaches out to you. "It's okay"  You pull back again and she frowns before reaching around to the back of your neck and _squeezing_ .

 

And your _mind_

_goes_

_blank_

 

                Everything, all your panic, all your fear, just slips away, replaced by a buzzing fog and a sense of _safenowyou'resafeit'sokay_. Then she takes her hand away and its gone, leaving you blinking and confused in your corner of the bed.

 

                "There we go! That's better. She frowns and tilts her head. "Well, I think. Are you actually calm or is this just because of the mind whammy instincts thing 'cause that hits like a sack of bricks if you aren't expecting it."

 

                You blink once, long and slow, in confusion before trying to tell her that you were alright, but no sound comes out when you speak. After a few moments of you gaping like a fish, the demon giggles a bit and speaks again.

 

                                "Yeah... That happens sometimes if the turning's kinda traumatic. Well, so they say. You're actually the first turned demon I've ever met when they were a newborn so I really wouldn't know for sure. But getting tied up right after probably didn't do your brain any favors so you might be a bit messed up for a while. Or you might start talking again any second now, hell if I know."

 

                She keep talking but after a while you stop taking in the words. Every sound runs together and your vision swims. Your head aches and you can feel your fragile hold on calm slipping away.

 

                "Hey--  you ok?"

 

                Shadows fall across your eyes as you slip into unconsciousness.

***

 

 

Roxy ==> Deal with things

 

                Ok. You can do that. You are dealing with things. The hunter turned demon's unconscious again but that's normal right? Turned demons are tired and weak for awhile after the transformation. That's what everyone says. And she probably hasn't eaten since or at least eaten properly. You'll have to find her some blood before you go ho-- No. Bad Roxy. Caretaking instincts can be indulged when you and Dirk and newbie demon are all out of harm's way.

 

                You reach for the chains holding the woman,(What's her name again? Something Crocker.) to the bed only to pull your hand back in pain when you grab them. So that's why the cuffs they had you in weren't cold iron. They'd used their cold iron to tie up their friend. Least they had the decency to wrap her wrists up to keep them from burning first. Cowards.

 

 

                You stand up and look hurriedly around the room. Looks like they weren't stupid enough to leave the keys. This is gonna hurt then. You rip a strip of cloth of of the bottom of your shirt and wrap it around your palms. It won't be enough to keep you from getting hurt entirely, not by a long shot, but it should give you at least a little bit of protection.

 

                The chains still burn your hands when you rip them apart. Even iron is no match for a demon's strength but the burn's a bitch and a half. You unwind the chains from around Crocker's wrists and throw them into a corner. What's her first name? Jen? Jane? Jane sounds right. You're pretty sure its one of the names you've heard shouted across an alleyway skirmish.

 

                "Come on Janey. Wakey Wakey. We're busting outta here." She twitches a bit but doesn't wake up. "Ah hell, you're gonna make me drag you to safety aren't you." With an amused snort you pull Jane up so she's draped over your shoulder. "Could be worse I suppose, dead weight's better than trying to claw my eyes out. You probably haven't even noticed how sharp they are. Cut through metal like it's paper." You keep rambling as you haul Jane over to the door and into the hallway.

 

                The hallway's deserted. Dirk's either still leading English and Harley on a chase or he's hiding somewhere waiting. You carefully ease Jane with you down the hall, trying not to jostle her. She hisses slightly once or twice, but for the most part Jane remains dead weight on your shoulder.

 

                It's when you've reached the bottom of the stairs that you hear a clattering sound and the door to the basement swings open. You swing toward it as Egbert steps out, sees you and dives for the hammer still laying on the table. He manages to grab it and fall into a fighting stance before you can react. Damnit. He's between you and your way out of the building.

 

                Before either of you can make a move, Egbert to swing his hammer or you to make a dash for the door, Jane lifts her head up. "John. Please." Egbert falters, staring at Jane. For a long moment, the three of you stand, frozen, before Egbert nods once, lowers his hammer and steps aside. Jane smiles weakly and lowers her head. "Thank you."

 

                Egbert smiles weakly. "Uh- you're welcome! Just. Demon lady? Look after her okay?" Your lips quirk into something resembling a wry smile and Egbert vanishes into the basement.

 

                You make it out of the house and into a nearby alley without any further interruptions. For a very tense few minutes, you stand in the shadows and wait until Dirk jumps down from a rooftop, looks like he managed to shake the hunters. Or kill them, though he doesn't look as blood covered as he tends to after getting his sword wet. Ok. Wow. That sounded dirty.

 

                Dirk saunters up to you, but stops when he sees Jane still slung over one shoulder. "Roxy, What?"

               

                "They were going to kill her Dirk. I couldn't just leave her."

 

                Dirk frowns, then shrugs and turns toward the other end of the alley.  "Come on then. The brats will be worrying."

 

                You grin and follow, walking onwards toward home.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's the end of it. Or the end of the beginning anyway. Or is it just part of the middle? I am writing more in this verse, at the very least I have some loose ends to tie up.
> 
> Also posted in chapters at my tumblr.


End file.
